


Fortuna Major

by BrutallyRomantic



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Blackcest (Harry Potter), F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:21:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23749075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrutallyRomantic/pseuds/BrutallyRomantic
Summary: Tied through Black magic, it isn't clear what the consequences will be, or if they'll be worth it, but when one is born in the Noble house of Black, nothing is as it seems. The lines blur between good and evil, control and chaos, love and lust. {Warning: Blackcest ahead}
Relationships: Bellatrix Black Lestrange/Narcissa Black Malfoy
Comments: 14
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**_6 months after Voldemort's final defeat_ **

The air was charged, nearly crackling, as it lingered impatiently for the sort of Black magic that would soon feed into the darkness that was brewing.

Narcissa Malfoy was finding it hard to breathe around the uneasy lump caught in her throat, her shaky limbs interfering with her ability to cast wards around the stone room. Determined not to perform something of this nature in her own home, she had gone to the ruins of what was once a grand castle on the edges of the Malfoy properties.

The sort of magic was only whispered of in the sleaziest of alleys and darkest of shadows. It would scar the atmosphere itself and Narcissa did not dare contaminate the air her son breathed. If she was to be honest with herself, the blonde could not have cared less if Lucius was breathing the fumes of Black magic. The man had long ceased being family, even before the two began to sleep in separate rooms. Only in public did they force themselves to maintain the farce of a marriage. Divorce was not an option in families as ancient and proud as the Blacks and the Malfoys.

In the twilight hours, as she lay between awake and asleep, the barest part of the woman did sometimes wish she were merely a peasant, a commoner, if only so she might do as she pleased in matters that seem to hold more importance as of late. However, the idea was quickly banished as Narcissa moved about the room checking her spells to be certain that nothing and nobody would be able to find her. If by some unlucky happenstance someone were to catch her in the throes of casting such a spell, she did not dare to imagine what would happen, but she was very certain of the fact that it would be awful.

As Narcissa ran her wand over lichen coated stretches of wall, her mind wandered to the discovery of the castle ruins. Draco had been nothing more than a small and curious child and it had almost cost him dearly when he fell through a trapdoor entrance that had been hidden by branches and overgrown bushes. Recognizing how the castle served as a fair secret, Narcissa erased the event from her son's mind. The ruins proved to be a small refuge for her thoughts, though soon it would only be a place of darkness, no matter the outcome of the spell she was to attempt.

The ritual that Narcissa had set herself to casting was the only of its kind, a little known way to defeat death that the Dark Lord had spurned. His desire not to rely on anyone completely outside of himself explained his reasoning, though that desire was his eventual destruction.

Originally, the spell was designed for a witch or wizard to bind their life force to another, generally a long living magical creature, but Narcissa's wish was darker still.

The body lying directly in the center of the floor had not been allowed to decay in the months since its demise. Even in death Bellatrix's pallid beauty remained clinging to her frail bones like a cloak.

Approaching the still form, Narcissa could feel the weariness setting into her own bones as she prayed to whatever merciful power might be listening that this process would not damn her and her sister both.

Though, after all that had passed, the blonde couldn't hold back the fear that they might be already damned.

Narcissa would have attempted the particular spell ages ago were it not for the fact that she had been searching for and painstakingly repairing each little splinter of Bellatrix's wand. Nothing had remained but the most miniscule fractured splinters, yet it had been managed.

As she prepared to actually begin the ritual and spell, Narcissa laid out her sister's wand beside the still form, she couldn't say corpse, and drew her own to begin the chant that would bind Bella's life force to her own. Doing so would effectively return her to the realm of the living and allow her to live as long as Narcissa did. The dark, ancient words flowed from her lips without pause, the ice within them chilling the blonde down to her very soul.

_Hell was bright, nothing dark within it but a lone woman. In the agonizing, blinding light, Bella couldn't hide from herself, nor from the sins committed in life. Even her screams could not survive, never making it more than mere inches from her lips and lingering about her head and shoulders like insects that sought only to sap her will, her life's blood._

_The blood in question seeped from wounds crossing and marring pale flesh over nearly every centimeter, all self-inflicted. There was no escape from her own hands as they tore at her, ripping scream after scream that tormented only her._

_In her hell, Bella could only watch from just slightly outside a circle of light as the Dark Lord was defeated time and time again by the boy who radiated the light. It hurts as nothing had hurt before and she knew that there would be no escape, not ever._

_The barest slip of darkness caressed the witch's flesh then, the only sign of relief she had felt in so long. A forever it felt like, a forever that would never end. But the darkness felt like words, sliding like silk over Bellatrix's broken body. Turning to it like a child to its mother, Bella sought the source._

_The words were nothing, and everything, not English or any language she had ever heard, but the voice was growing more familiar by the second, by each passing forever as the darkness began to battle the light._

_Suddenly engulfed in darkness, Bella realized that the voice had stopped and the light and the heat and the horrible breaking sight all vanished, leaving the witch cold and unmoving, but breathing. Still and silent, Bella felt as if her body had fallen asleep and the unbearable pins and needles were prickling through every inch and every sense. The shushing sound of fabric sliding on fabric from directly beside her sounded like a parade of noise and the flinch she could not suppress sent waves of terrible pins and needles flooding her flesh._

_Her flesh. All had changed from what it was and now she could only stay as still as possible to keep from returning to the terrible suffering of the endless blinding light._

If Narcissa had not been watching for the small movements of breath entering and vacating her sister's lungs, she would assume the magic had not worked. With a sudden rush that overtook her senses, the witch could feel the cling of magic as if it were a hand around her spine, squeezing and pulling her closer to Bella's body. Soft fingers on warming flesh, Narcissa breathed out her sister's name like a prayer, a happiness welling up within her like she had not known in too long.

Brushing Bella's hair from her face, Narcissa pressed her palm over her sister's heart, finding the weak but steady reassuring beat that matched her own and she could not help but wonder if that would be the manner in which their hearts' beat now, with each other. Pulling the cloak from her back and leaving herself clad in a prim, securely fastened dress, Narcissa spread the makeshift blanket over her sister to aid the warming process.

"Bellatrix..Bella..sister..can you hear me?"

"Don't. "

Bella could not be certain what she was saying 'don't' to, don't touch, don't speak, don't move, if not all of the above. Every touch and move and sound was unbearable and Bella wished to leave the new torment and return to the one that she knew. But Cissy's voice.. just the sound of it made Bella nearly burst from missing what was, what had been until her demise at the hands of the ginger bitch. If Bella could hold Molly Weasley in her Hell, she would suffer happily until the end of creation.

The fresh torture was more agonizing than the last, until Bella realized that the movement she seemed incapable of stopping was a beating, a beating from inside. It was her heart and it wasn't stopping, nor stopped, and her sister's voice echoed in the cold air, permeating the darkness that had been so soothing within the brightness.

Blinking was a trial, but the pins and needles had begun to recede, leaving aching and soreness in their wake, a beautiful medley of pain that became more bearable with every moment. Every real moment. Blinking again, the darkness was ever friendlier and she recognized a sort of flickering light. Candles. There were no candles in her Hell.

So where was she? Bella's neck protested as she worked to turn her head, aiming to face the voice she held so dear.


	2. Chapter 2

Narcissa drew back instantly when Bella spoke, ignoring any small hurt that the perceived rejection might have brought bubbling to the surface. Watching her sister's face keenly, the blonde stayed silent and examined the flurry of thought that moved across Bella's face, a wave of pure expression. It had always been that way, Narcissa could see how the other witch's thoughts jumped from track to track, until she began to move.

Arms shifting, breathing growing deeper, chin lifting, eyes fluttering, it was a motion of life that could be clearly seen, each little shift proving that Narcissa had done it. She had brought her sister back from the hold of death itself and she did not care to acknowledge the potential consequences as of yet. Putting a hand out again, Cissy placed her fingers over Bella's just under the edge of the cloak, sharing what heat she could and trying to relay that the brunette would never be alone again.

Every passing second introduced a new and painful sensation that pinched at the dark witch's being. Even just the gentle touch of Narcissa's fingers was agonizing. Yet Bella could not find it within her to completely hate the sensation, the girls' mother had always strived to nurture a rather unhealthy craving for pain.

It hurt as the dark woman opened her eyes just enough to squint, but Bella had almost adjusted to the candle light.

Twisting her face towards where she had heard the nearly melodic tone that she had missed more than she realized, Bella found her sister's face. A shimmering aura seemed to glow around her, giving off an angelic appearance that only fueled the rebirth of Bella's own inner darkness. The unused muscles in her face ached as they formed a smile entirely for Narcissa.

"Cissy.."

It was sweet ambrosia from the halls of Olympus itself to Narcissa's ears when Bella spoke her name. The dark witch's voice was low and rough from disuse and yet it still held that same sense of seduction, a dark temptation that seemed to make up her whole self. Bella had always been her sister's favorite poison and it appeared that nothing had changed.

By the second Bella's colour was returning, what little she had in the first place.

"I'm here, Bella, you're safe." Cissy stretched out with her free hand to trace a single finger down Bella's jawline to reassure herself that she was not merely suffering from some sort of beautiful dream.

The rumbling groan that emitted from Bella next came from deep in her chest and thankfully caused marginally less pain as her body gradually adjusted to being alive once more. Narcissa's promise of safety only served to remind her of her situation and how she came to be in whatever place it was she was lying in.

Bella had died and come back, once again living and breathing air and feeling her pounding heart under her ribs.

"What have you done?" The witch had fallen in battle, there could be no return from that. The Dark Lord did not take kindly to weakness and if Bella attempted a return to his side, she would almost assuredly be signing her own death warrant. Anger bubbled up under Bellatrix's ribs at the thought that her own sister had stolen her noble death for the cause. However, the witch knew exactly why. Her little sister was weak, weakened by love and affection intended solely for Bella.

It spoke much to the naiveté that Narcissa still possessed in some form and Bella had already begun to contemplate how best to reteach the all-important lesson that the sisters Black are not weak.

"What have I..? Bella, I saved you! I couldn't bear it, you were gone and..and you left me."

Taken aback by her sister's reaction, Narcissa found she was incapable of explaining herself with any eloquence. The hand on Bella's tightened imperceptibly as she continued on while trying not to sound like a child.

"I could not survive losing another sister." Referring to Andromeda was forbidden, Narcissa knew it, but she wasn't able to catch the slip before it erupted from a formerly grief stricken heart. Bella had to have cared for Andy at one point, that fact was undeniable, but since she left Bella had refused to acknowledge her existence. It was an exquisite type of pain that Narcissa could not seem to flee.

The power to sit up on her own was fueled by Bella's rage. She couldn't believe that Narcissa would dare take her honor away. Bella felt the urge to kill her sister where she knelt and she would have were she not her sister, only hers. Without Narcissa, Bella's amusements would end abruptly.

"I am your /only/ sister, Cissy." Her voice dripped with barely contained passion of the violent sort while still managing to ooze a molasses sweetness designed to both frighten and attract. Reaching for her wand where it lay, it fit perfectly within the palm of its mistress and practically begged to be used once more to satisfy the woman's particular cravings. As Bella hissed, the tip of her wand dragged down Narcissa's cheek before drifting to follow the line of her collarbone.

Bella's body was still weak, recovering, but she knew Cissy like the back of her own hand and she knew exactly what buttons to press to draw a reaction of any sort. Fear and shame is what Bella craved from Narcissa, that and her suffering.

"Shall we revisit our lessons, Narcissa?"

The dark magic that Narcissa had only just commanded minutes ago threatened to leave the witch too weak to fight in any way, shape or form. The results left her mask lowered and robbed her of the control necessary to hide her fear at the very thought of one of Bella's special 'lessons'.

When she was young, the blonde had foolishly believed that her sister would never hurt her because she loved her. However, the more lessons she learned from her sibling, the more she realized that even if any love existed between them, Narcissa was little more than a plaything. What's more, she was her sister's favorite plaything. She learned quickly of how much it took for Bella to be satisfied that her sister had learned whatever 'lesson' she was trying to get across.

"Please, Bella, the war is over. We can be a proper family again."

Snorting derisively, Bella continued on tracing the lines of her sister's face and neck with the very tip of her beautifully warped wand.

"A family? With your coward husband and that sniveling son of his? I think not." The wand dipped under the blonde's chin and pressed up into the soft flesh there just enough to almost hurt. "It would seem I must remind you of exactly whom you belong to, don't you think?"

Bella could already imagine her sister begging, pleading for mercy with the delicious screams only she could make into a sweet and agonizing form of music. She would break and fix and rebreak Narcissa over and over again until she was in her rightful place, at Bella's feet.

"Be a good girl and tell big sister where we are, hm?"

With the wand firmly pressed against her neck hard enough that swallowing hurt, Narcissa was borderline nauseous with how the fear curdled like old milk in her belly. Palms growing clammy, all she could think of were the lessons Bella had taught her through the years and exactly what failing had meant.

"Th-there's no need for that, Bella." Cautiously answering and gesturing vaguely to the witch's wand, Narcissa took care not to make any sudden movements that might prompt her sister into action. "We are in Castle Malfoy, some ruins on the edge of my holdings."

Narcissa had begun to think that perhaps doing this without any sort of protection might not have been wise.

"Is that so? So far from the manor..no one to hear you scream.. You /wanted/ to be punished didn't you? You wanted what only I can give and you are not even capable of admitting it."

Bellatrix leaned in with a predatory smile as her wand traced over Narcissa's lips one by one, slowly teasing back down towards concealed cleavage. Pressing the wood suddenly hard directly in the middle of Narcissa's chest, Bella whispered the spell with glee.

"Crucio."

It was as if every nerve in her body had been set on fire while hitting the ground at one hundred million kilometers an hour. The screams were torn from Narcissa's lungs against her will without any rhyme or reason, tearing her throat raw. She felt as if she were dying, exploding and imploding all at once and she couldn't do a thing about it. It spoke to Bella's power that she was able to cast such a spell after being dead only moments earlier.

Narcissa's body convulsed, gaze glued to her sister as she begged for mercy with her eyes, not daring to try to speak for fear of biting her own tongue off.

This was what Bella had missed of her sister, her softness. While the rest of the world would see only the proper Lady Malfoy, Bella knew the woman underneath and was the sole and gleeful witness to her undoing. Foolish Lucius had no idea what he achieved by wooing and subsequently marrying the blonde witch and Bella would not be surprised were he as lousy in bed as he was in battle.

Bella pulled the tortuous spell back abruptly before Narcissa was able to slip into sweet unconsciousness. Hissing in her sister's face with nothing less than a predatory expression, Bella savored the heady scent of her fear.

"You're mine to do with as I please and if I must /help/ you in learning this again, I shall." Her eyes remained devious, a chesire grin making it quite clear that Bella had every intention of teaching her sister one way or another.

Familiar fear crushed Narcissa's limbs, returned like an old friend to steal her soul. She was entranced by her sister, unable to look away even if she desired to do so. Low and soft, nearly a whisper through the echoing pain, the witch tried to beg without surrendering her dignity.

"There is no need for this, Bella, I promise." It was hard to believe that this was started by a slip of the tongue, that something so small could raise so much ire. Narcissa had mentioned the unspeakable and she did not know how to fix it before suffering the wrath of her formidable sister. The idea that she could actually escape Bella's anger was a foolish one, and yet that vague hope did nothing to keep her terror filled thoughts from feeding into the fear of what might happen next.

The pins and needles had completely dissipated and Bella was almost certain she could stand, but she remained still in order to maintain the severe eye contact. Cackling, her free hand reached around the side of the other witch's neck and grasped a handful of blonde hair at the base of her neck. Wearing a grin that could only be described as animalistic, Bella twisted her hand to force Narcissa's head to the side. In one smooth movement, Bella moved in and bit hard at the junction of neck and shoulder without letting up until the coppery taste of blood met her tongue. It sated the monster within her for a moment in which it howled triumphantly that Narcissa was hers, only hers.

Lathing the wound with her tongue, Bella then pulled back just enough to fix Cissy with an unwavering confidence in her menacing glare.

"/I/ shall decide what is necessary. Do you understand, baby sister?"

Gasping more from surprise than pain when her head was yanked to the side, Narcissa had no choice or chance to follow the unspoken order and allow her neck to be exposed. The pain that followed was not nearly as excruciating as the Cruciatus, but it still hurt enough that the woman cried out. Unable to pull away for fear that Bella would bite harder and take a piece of her flesh, Narcissa was as a statue. Albeit a statue that screams.

The pain subsided to a throbbing ache when Bella released her jaw, whimpers falling unbidden from Cissy's lips when she feels her sister's tongue on the wound, a familiar and unwelcome warmth spreading through her body.

"B-Bella.." Stammering her sister's name was all Narcissa could manage with the heady mixture of pain and pleasure that Bella seemed to produce so effortlessly.


	3. Chapter 3

The way Narcissa moaned her name was energizing and Bella couldn't remember the last time she had felt so exhilarated. A whimper from the woman still held firmly in her grasp dragged Bellatrix right back into reality. A harsh and beauteous reality in which she was alive and had her sister in her power. If the Dark Lord were truly defeated, then there must be another who could continue his work until another way is found to facilitate his return.

He always comes back.

But first, Bella would teach Cissy her place, where little sisters belong. At their big sister's side so they may learn to be strong and graceful and the kind of woman anyone would want. However, Bella was hardly interested in reworking her sister for anyone's benefit but her own. She didn't care to share her sister in any way; it was bad enough she was married to Lucius.

Surveying the bite mark on her sister's shoulder, the witch grinned gleefully. It was already forming a bruise and Cissy knew better than to cover it up. Bella liked to display what was hers. But then.. it had been awhile since Narcissa had been truly hers. Ages since the war began. The fight had cracked something in the blonde Black and in some ways she was even more damaged than Bellatrix.

The darker witch reveled in this knowledge and planned to make full use of it.

So far, Narcissa had made noises of protest but made no move to defy. Either Bella scared her back into her place, or she was plotting. Unfortunately for Narcissa, Bella had always been more of the paranoid sort.

"Tell me who you belong to, Cissy." The words flowed in a deceptively gentle manner, contradicted entirely by the hungry shine in Bella's eyes. The blonde had closed her eyes to try and remain impassive. It wasn't working. Tightening her grip in her sister's hair, Bella repeated herself in a harsher manner.

Still Narcissa said nothing, though Bella could feel the slight tremors that vibrated through her sister's body. On any other victim Bella would have merely taken what she wanted by this point, and yet with Narcissa she found the chase rather thrilling.

Moving close enough so that her left cheek was brushing against her sister's, Bella murmured sweetly into her ear. Her voice was almost a sigh as she whispered like some sort of fairytale temptress.

"Cissy..Cissy, don't you fret. Just tell me.. tell me you love me, tell me you're mine. Tell me." The soft approach was sometimes the wisest, and Bella had no patience for it for anyone but her sister.

"Bella..There is something you need to know." Scowling, the dark witch pulled back and readopted her brusque manner. How dare the blonde fool think she could turn her down like that. "Bella, you are tied to me now. I bound our souls. It's how you came back." And it would almost explain the attraction that had suddenly become so much less than manageable.

The brunette actually stopped to ponder this for a moment before a wide and devilish grin split her face.

"So now you really do belong to me, body and soul." It was always about ownership with Bella, always. "You can't deny it Cissy, you are now and forever will be mine and don't you dare forget it."

A silent nod was assent enough to satisfy Bella for the time being. Cissy shuddered to think of the lessons that she knew her sister wouldn't forget about.


	4. Chapter 4

Wearing a smile that was all cold manners, Narcissa escorted the 'visiting' Auror into her front parlour, one reserved only for guests she had no real wish to associate with. The décor was austere and imposing, meant to give the impression of grandeur and intimidate any who dared invade. Thick brocade fabric armchairs and dark wood lent to the thick atmosphere in the room, the entire sensation of firm and unwelcoming harshness rounded out by the head of a stag that hung over the intricately designed mantle, even the dead animal seeming to wear a hard expression, dead eyes glinting maliciously.

After requesting and receiving a bitter black tea from a house elf and assuring that it was served properly to her invader, some might say 'guest', Narcissa perched on her chair with the expectant expression of one who does not approve of their time being wasted. The Auror, Fergus Nitchley, a young man barely out of school by the look of him, was doing better than the woman had thought he might under the circumstances, concealing his fear of the looming darkness in the home. Yes, the war was over, but there was still a certain kind of shadow that lingered over the lands and their inhabitants. Those who were once involved with the Dark Lord were handled at arm's length, treatment that extended also to Narcissa as the wife of a notorious Death Eater.

Though Lucius had again claimed to coercion by way of the Imperius, it had not worked so very well as years earlier, leaving the man to serve a sentence in Azkaban of undecided length. The young man cluttering Narcissa's study was a messenger, sent by the wizards handling Lucius' case to inform the witch of their progress. Unfortunately for the messenger, the news was not pleasant, but fortunately to the young man, Narcissa was not one to lash out at a bearer of bad news. However, unaware of this fact amongst the rumours still flying about the Malfoy family as a whole, the man was nearly shaking in his seat.

"I'm afraid the hearing has been pushed back another two weeks", Nitchley said with an unpleasantly sick expression twisting his features. Were it not for the situation, Narcissa might have felt pity for the young man, still a boy really.

"What was the reason given this time?" Narcissa inquired coldly. Nitchley shifted uncomfortably where he sat and said, "They said the evidence they were looking for is harder to find than they expected." Maintaining her controlled visage, just barely, the witch responds, "Of course it is. Is this not the reasoning I have been presented with the last _three_ times Lucius' hearing was postponed?"

A vague crash from outside the room drew the blonde's attention instantaneously, though the Auror was too busy working on not peeing in the presence of the intimidating woman to notice it as anything more than a possible drop of a dish by a house elf, or something of the sort. Thoughts of her estranged husband shoved aside by a far more pressing matter, Narcissa cast her gaze back to Nitchley with a detached air.

"A house elf will see you out. Do inform your superiors that I will be contacting them shortly." Brushing the man's rush to bid her farewell as she swooped from the room in a cloud of irritation, Narcissa strode easily to where she knew the crash must have originated.

When not in one of her moods, the type that left Narcissa bruised and otherwise injured without fail, Bellatrix was no better than a child. Caring for the returned woman was akin to caring for an unruly five year old, albeit a five year old with an impressive capacity for destruction and a wonder inspiring grasp of the magical arts. Narcissa would have sworn that she had removed the majority of the breakables from the wing in which she had left Bella when she went to meet with her 'guest', but she was hardly surprised to learn that the dark witch had found something to destroy.

Rounding the corner, Narcissa scowl only deepened as she surveyed the shattered pottery scattered down the hall. There had been a strong shatter-proof enchantment on the vases from the time Draco had been small and learning to knock things over, but the spell had not stood up under a wanded Bellatrix. Stepping over the destruction and following the path it left, Narcissa came upon her sister in a large hall that was used primarily for parties. Giggling and dancing about, Bellatrix had her eyes fixed heavenward, watching as each spell she cast reflected off of the multitudes of crystal hanging from a grand chandelier in the center of the ceiling.

Narcissa's approach was noticed, dark and shining eyes jumping down to fix on her gleefully. "Cissy! You're back!" Bellatrix was joyful as she skipped to her sister and pulled her into a mad spinning dance that lasted all of two seconds before the witch fell still. With the firm assuredness that only a mother could pull off, Narcissa glared at her sister. "You took too long," Bella complained under the silent accusation, joy fading swiftly. The pout on her face was all child.

"It is imperative that we are not found out by the Ministry! You know this, Bellatrix, and yet you insist on wreaking havoc with an Auror in our midst!" Narcissa exclaimed in a mixture of anger and worry that resulted in an exhausting exasperation that left her massaging in her temples, energy draining. Bella's brows drew low over her eyes, her response to scolding was never to be pleased, most certainly when said scolding was coming from her little sister. The tired fear in the blonde's expression drove into her the seriousness of the situation however, prompting her own frustrations to rise to the surface.

"I will not be hidden away, Narcissa! I have been trapped in this house for weeks, and I am thoroughly tired of it." Weeks yes, but Narcissa did not see how Bella could truly complain. At every opportunity she had tormented her little sister, to the point where a hard look at the wrong moment was enough to have Narcissa cringing involuntarily. It obviously was not doing very much at the present time, however, with Narcissa's stress levels having peaked with the newest postponement of Lucius' trial. On top of her freely given heavy handed treatment of her sister, Bellatrix had every comfort possible available to her. As if she could read her sister's thoughts, Bella hissed, "It's a luxurious prison, but a prison nonetheless, Cissy."

The proximity as she leaned to hiss in her sister's face was a source of great difficulty for the blonde. While she could moan and rage about Bellatrix's torment, there was that part of her, that part that was bound to her sister for eternity that stole her breath when the other woman drew near. The closer she drew, the more the air would vacate her body, leaving her lightheaded and unprepared to defend herself in any way. This too, was a fact that Bella savoured, taking the chance to brush against her bare flesh whenever it presented itself.

"What do you propose then, Bella? Shall we march out into Diagon Alley and declare the fact that I performed forbidden magic to revive my sister the mass murderer?" Narcissa's voice was not nearly as strong as she had intended, coming instead as if she had just run a great distance.

Grinning maliciously and shaking her head with childish joy, Bellatrix cradled her sister's face hard in both hands. "No, my dearest Cissy, of course not, that would be foolish. I have a much better idea."

Narcissa couldn't bring herself to ask, but it was hardly necessary as Bella was only too happy to continue. "My dear, dear sister.. I think I have found a use for the rotten fruit that we once had to rid from the family tree."


	5. Chapter 5

The low grunt of complaint issued from Narcissa's chest and went wholly ignored by the woman currently occupied with her apparent attempts to break her sister's ribs. Tugging at the corset laces with a fervour Narcissa had not expected, Bellatrix worked to pull the device tight. On an average day, the blonde witch would have been happy to use her magic to tug the corset to the proper level of constrictiveness and would have been clothed for the day in under twenty minutes.

On an average day.

Her wand had been brandished and prepared to enact the minor enchantment necessary to pull the laces at her back tight and tie them securely. Wand ripped from her hand in an instant, Narcissa had released a squeak of surprise and instantly moved to lash out at the wand thief when her sister came into view. The punch landed solidly, Bellatrix's expression of devious sneakery shifted into one of sour displeasure. Dropping Narcissa's wand to the side and advancing on the blonde, Bella shoved her with a firm, "Is that any way to greet your sister?"

"It is when she sneaks up on me like some sort of prowler!" Narcissa retorted as Bella manhandled her into facing the bed. Her hands shot out to grip the bedpost to keep her balance as the mad witch gave a hard tug to the still loose corset laces.

"I'm here on a very special invitation", responded Bella haughtily, pulling on a lace. Rolling her eyes safely out of her sister's view, Narcissa put a hand over her stomach as her Bella gave another hearty tug.

"If you don't mind, I'm not quite as small as I used to be." Narcissa complained in a tone that might have been teasing if not for the scowl clearly present in her voice. The air was pushed from her lungs as Bella pulled at the end of her sentence.

"I think you should save your breath for what is to come, dearest." Speaking sweetly, Bella looped the laces around one another in a significantly gentler manner, harkening back to the days when Narcissa would beg her eldest sister to do the chore at every available opportunity.

The Black family matriarch had _encouraged_ her daughters to be self-sufficient from a young age, this encouragement extending naturally into how they presented themselves at all times. It was due to this teaching that all three sisters were quite proficient in the lacing of a corset, the fastening of dozens of dress buttons at a remarkable pace, and other such small tasks that were generally delegated to servants. While the Black children were allowed to request aid when they were very small, it became increasingly more unacceptable to ask for help, resulting in a simple but strong bond between siblings. Rather than risk the ill temper of their mother at the sight of a missed button, they took to checking each other for the small details, and assisting when the woman was not present.

Merely the flashback of such days was enough to distract Narcissa for a blissful second before reality pulled her back like an animal on a leash. How very ironic when she considered the figurative and magical leash she now wore in connection to her sister. She could only wonder who held possession of the controlling end.

Tucking the laces out of sight with a satisfied sigh, the calmness of which contrasted sharply with the woman's following flounce to Narcissa's vanity, Bellatrix said, "We have quite a day ahead of us, Cissy, a bright and shining day." Inspecting herself in Narcissa's medium sized, silver edged mirror, Bella then locked eyes with her sister in the reflection, her even expression giving way to the less-than-mad grin. "Were you not just complaining of losing a sister or some such nonsense?"

The reminder of her own words stung in a fashion, though it was slight; the blonde witch strode with even steps to her wardrobe to pluck a set of deep plum-coloured robes from the magically enlarged depths. Several silent heartbeats passed before she answered, "You have yet to explain yourself, Bella."

Snorting lightly and returning to looking at her own face in the mirror, Bellatrix frowned lightly at a discoloration just under her chin before prodding at her cheekbones with a vague narcissistic pride. "Straight to the point, hm?" Stroking her fingers over the curve of her own jaw and twisting her lips in a mockery of a frightening expression. "You'll just have to be patient, won't you, sister dear?"

Pausing in her work at the buttons of her dress robes, hands dropped to sit on the blonde's hips as her expression did the same. "Do you truly understand the consequences of being seen in public, Bella? Do you comprehend the magnitude of my crimes?" Narcissa scoffed at that thought alone, she was not the sister who should be worrying of crimes. "I refuse to leave my home and assist in whatever plans you are hatching until you inform me of what exactly it is you intend to accomplish!"

Bella's features stilled, a dangerous hint in her tone as she lifted a brow in the mirror, "Oh?" Her lack of a longer answer caused Narcissa to falter shortly, a weakness which Bella had awaited and pounced upon readily. "Narcissa, have I not made myself clear?" She spoke low as she rose from the vanity's small chair to approach her sister. "Is little Cissy a little scared?" As if she was speaking to a child, Bella's voice raised in a high pitched whine.

Bellatrix was halfway to her sister, expression devious and clearly full of intent to do…whatever she pleased really, but Narcissa had grown tired. She did not back away, did not make as if to fight back, she merely stood and awaited the repercussions that so often, if randomly, followed questioning her sister or showing any sort of backbone at all. The dark woman was a mystery, though Narcissa had grown up with her, because this was barely half the woman she once knew. Where the Bella of her childhood might have been comforted by her soft words, or proud of her ability to stand up for herself despite the irritation it might cause, this woman was disconnected.

For a moment Narcissa entertained the chilling thought that she had not brought her sister back in her entirety. Just a moment.

A tired sort of surrender set in, weeks in the making, made real by her estranged husband's hearing being yet again pushed back, by the fact that her sister had devolved into a woman who had little control or care to use it, and by the knowledge that even if she had brought back the woman's body and soul, somehow her heart had been left behind.

* * *

Deep in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic, further in than most could boast knowledge of, lay the department with no name. The Department of Mysteries, while indeed mysterious and unrivalled in its methods of secrecy and ability to keep hidden some of the most powerful secrets in the wizarding world, was an absolute open book when compared to the unnamed department that lay at the lowest level in the Ministry building. Where the DoM dealt with its very namesake, mystery, and everything which must be kept away from the magical public, the department with no name handled that which the DoM could not. Darkness beyond measure and the sort of magic that must not be given to anyone, for there could be no good use for it. Even that which occurred within the department itself could be called into question if the right ears were to hear.

Much like the Unspeakables, those employed within wore hooded robes at all times, and did not speak. However, the nature of their work required a level of secrecy far more than the capacity of any average individual. The workers within, labelled the Unnamed Ones, were those with nothing and no one, often the presumed dead, called only by a number.

"3977 reporting unusual activity." The words slipped from under and grey hood pulled low, even as the Unnamed One reported as was his job description. Never had he to report any sort of activity outside of what was expected until recently, and said activity was only growing far more bizarre, quite a feat in such a place.

"Your report has been recorded, 3977." Answering succinctly from behind frosted black glass, the voice was not distinctly masculine or feminine, yet another unknown. The man reporting turned to return to his post once more. His job was never done.


	6. Chapter 6

The bright sky seemed like a slap in the face to the grey spaces in Narcissa's heart, those that threatened to overtake her with each beat. Through the large windows lining the hall puffy clouds were visible, floating along on a trip of their own, whisking away wherever the wind should see fit to send them. Narcissa felt very like a cloud, the tempest that was her sister tearing her from her path and coercing her to join in with the storm brewing. She wished that the outside would darken and dull to match her mood, to match the atmosphere that clung to her skin like thick droplets of old wine.

Fabric on fabric swished a melody with no real rhythm as Bellatrix stepped lightly alongside her sister as they walked, almost skipping with each step. For all Bella knew, her sister was merely preserving her dignity by maintaining an easy pace, stiff. Appearances were Narcissa's specialty, and with her sister distracted by the illusion of victory, the blonde witch had managed to fool her.

"It's really very stupid to keep the apparition wards on the manor, Cissy." Bella spoke with the matter of fact tone of someone who believes they are right with all their being. "Walking is so _boring_." Merlin only knew the immensity of Bellatrix's hate for boredom. It was when one was bored that the little creatures in one's head started to whisper and make it nearly impossible to hear anything. Flinging a thick lock of hair over her shoulder disdainfully, the pout on her face didn't match the happy pace she kept up.

"Well, Bella, you know how I hate surprise guests." Tone steady, if thin, Narcissa responded. Seeming to accept the answer with a huff, Bellatrix trailed the end of her wand along the wall as they walked.

Narcissa worked hard to keep her breathing even, putting forth the extra effort that was absolutely required to keep her from collapsing under the pressure her sister had inadvertently placed on her shoulders.

Half-dressed and unprepared for her sister's mood, it wasn't something that was easily prepared for, Narcissa had surrendered to the reality that once again Bellatrix was going to get physical rather than react like the person the blonde had believed her to be. It had been her solid belief that the war had been damaging Bella for so long that once it was over, she would have her sister back. However, after the end, with her sister dead, little hope had been left. And still, employing magic that would surely leave her sentenced to Azkaban, she had brought the woman back and once more been able to feed the hope that she might take back some small part of the family of which she had often dreamed.

With Narcissa's surrender, a true surrender born of knowing there was no other constructive option, for the first time Bella had reacted in a manner not of violence. Something in the dark witch's eyes had been soothed by the sight of the blonde in such a state of exhaustion, and it had provided Bella with the ability to speak, rather than to act.

Creeping close to her sister, Bella trailed her fingers over the woman's face, as if learning It all over again, and said, "I can feel you, Cissy." Narcissa held her tongue, as the silence and surrender was the only thing she had seen thus far that pulled her sister out from the face of madness. "I feel your heart beat." Her hand moved to cover that point just over the mentioned organ, skin on skin affecting both witches. Bella flickered, frowning as she brought her fingers up to caress a spot just under Narcissa's chin. "Have you not noticed.." Her face lifted, expression changing. "I do not think you wish to know what I am planning, Narcissa." It was not a threat or a dismissive gesture, merely a fact stated by the woman with a knowing look.

"..yes, I do." Narcissa hesitated before answering with the knowledge that Bella was very likely correct.

And so she told her. The blonde was stunned into a dumbfounded silence much different than the silence accompanying her surrender, as her sister spoke with growing pride and an arrogance that only a pureblood could wear with grace.

"You can't." With her words, the spell was broken, and Bella shifted back into the woman she had become, tweaking her sister's nose just a bit too hard.

"Of course, I can, Cissy. You can't stop me, haven't you figured it out?" Narcissa flinched at the tweak and almost equally at the bright tone in Bella's voice. Brows drawing together, she made the threat that had lingered on the tip of her tongue from the moment the witch began to explain her demented plan.

"I won't let you. I brought you back, I could stop you." However empty the threat might be, as Narcissa had brought the woman back for the still very real reason that she was terrified to be alone, it was not received well. Bellatrix breathed deeply, growing an inch as she stood up to her full height, eyes wild with fury that _her Cissy_ would dare to threaten her. A loud and wild laugh jumped from her mouth as she leaned into Narcissa face.

"Were you dropped on your head as a child and I missed it? Are you so foolish that you don't realize what you did when you _brought me back to life by binding our souls_? If _I_ die, _you_ die, _Cissy."_ Spitting the words spitefully in the blonde witch's face, Bella bluffed like a champion. Sure, what she said made complete sense somehow, fairly easy sense, but she couldn't be certain. The threat affected the blonde though, working as if it were real and she knew it all along, just had chosen not to remember.

Shoulders slumping slightly again, Narcissa's eyes dropped away from her sister as her hands moved to complete buttoning her dress robes. Under Bella's critical and smug eye, Narcissa completed the process of dressing.

Now, though her back was ramrod straight, Narcissa could still feel the vestiges of surrender clinging to her. But not entirely.

There were a few minutes, minutes in which Narcissa's heart was pounding like a drum and she feared Bella would feel this as something strange, where she was left alone. She knew not what Bellatrix was doing, only that she had not much time in which to attempt to save their sister's life. It might turn out to be an enormous betrayal, and if something were to go wrong she would be dooming the both of them, but Narcissa could not sit idly by as Bellatrix attempted to commit an act more heinous than anything she had ever before accomplished.

Hand shaking as she penned the note, ink splattered over the words almost enough to make them unreadable, but it would suffice. Attaching the missive to a small owl that Narcissa prayed would escape Bella's notice, she watched the creature fly out of sight just as the dark woman returned.

Each step down the hall echoed in Narcissa's ears, her heartbeat slamming against her ribs as if they were drums of war. It was impossible for her to tell if this was her own heartbeat or that of her sister, but either way it kept her blood pumping quickly enough to leave her lightheaded. This giddiness was no doubt the explanation for Bella's joyful almost jumping as they walked, the dark witch speaking endlessly of how wonderful it would be when she no longer needed to hide.

* * *

The parchment was fine, evidence of the sender's identity, but the words themselves were sloppily written and hasty. Andromeda peered at the note with a skeptical eye, hesitant to believe the contents.

_You are in danger. Leave immediately. Hide._

_Cissy_

Signed with the nickname she had not spoken in more years than she cared to acknowledge, it was tempting to believe that the note was sincere, and that Narcissa cared enough to warn her of impending danger. Andromeda dropped the slip of parchment onto her desk and wondered just what danger remained after the fall of the Dark Lord. The majority of his followers had fallen during the Battle of Hogwarts, and those who mistakenly tried to continue his mission after his demise had mostly been caught. There were always going to be fringe groups, she knew, that would try to make trouble and go on with the destruction of those they deemed _impure_ , but to think of it as such a sincere danger as to do anything more than put up strong wards.. Andromeda sighed lightly and picked up the note again, hand clutching her wand tighter subconsciously.

There had to be a good reason for the note, it wasn't Cissy's kind of prank to do something such as this.

Taking a bag, Andromeda grabbed some essentials and thanked the gods that her grandson and husband were out. She would be sure to owl him and keep him from returning home.

As she gripped a thick pullover, planning to be prepared for anything, there was a loud bang and crash from the front door downstairs. Head shooting up, wand at the ready, Andromeda's regal features contorted into an expression of fury tinted by fear. The note, it would seem, was very legitimate, and she should have obeyed it.


	7. Chapter 7

Andromeda's pulse picked up speed as pounding steps moved without hesitation through the house, obviously searching for its inhabitant. Wand stretched out before her and aimed at the half open door of her bedroom, she prepared for the battle to come. Whether it was a late attack of some still bitter Death Eaters or something worse, Andy was not one to back down in the face of a challenge.

The grey robes that swirled into view were the only thing she noticed in the doorway before a bright flash crowded her vision and turned everything black.

* * *

3977 paced in agitation up and down one wall of the small room, eyes moving intermittently between the only other occupant, knocked out on a small table, and the nondescript grey door. This was the very worst situation he could have imagined, but he feared it was only going to grow increasingly worse from here on. If only..

His job was supposed to be a simple one, if dangerous. He had only one charge, one.. thing to watch, or guard. He reported activity and on the whole it was a relatively easy task. While it might be a bit daunting, some might say terrifying, the man was no slouch in a pinch. Having handled more than one terribly dangerous situation, he was confident in his abilities to handle his one and only charge.

Unfortunately for him, the one charge he was given had begun to display certain behaviours, very out of the ordinary.

The department with no name was left in such a dark and secret place for many excellent reasons, one of them being 3977's job. In the shadows of the shadows, where no one would dare to even think of venturing, were hidden one of the wizarding world's best kept secrets.

When a witch or wizard dies, there is a point at which he or she may choose to return to the earth to wander forever as a ghost, allowing his or her soul to carry on passing knowledge to the next generation. Among those who choose to return, there is occasionally a soul with more magical potential than average, and in extraordinary circumstances there may be a slim possibility that the returned soul is very much more than a mere ghost. In all of wizarding history there are only four recorded cases of such a thing happening, and each..being..was less than pleased to call the dark department home.

Flinching at the thought of his disturbing charge, the most powerful returned soul under the care of the department, 3977 could not regret his acquisition of the witch Andromeda Tonks.

* * *

Dull walls that might once have been some shade of deep red hugged the thick air that now clogged Narcissa's lungs as she followed her sister, the witch creeping along the hall as if she expected Aurors to pop out from every corner. Glancing about, Narcissa was nearly as anxious as her sister, though for a far different reason. The comments that Bella had been nudging her with throughout the entire morning had led her to believe that she was going to bring them both directly to Andromeda's home. The message she had sent to the disowned Black had surely reached her and though Narcissa was grateful for the extra time to allow the woman to make a clean getaway, she could not suppress her racing pulse at the awful thrill of the unknown.

Bella was being extremely evasive, unusual for the woman who prided herself on her gloating abilities. Tapping a door finally with her wand, she seemed to reach her destination, walking with purpose towards a large wardrobe in a room that looked as if it had fallen into disuse long ago.

"If you refuse to tell me anything else, at least tell me what this place is." Narcissa spoke flatly, disguising her nerves. Bella did not look back at her as she rummaged through the wardrobe.

"The Dark Lord had many safe houses, Cissy", said the witch dismissively, making a small noise of victory as she found what she was searching for. Holding the vial before her with a triumphant grin, Bella held it up for her sister to see. The sludgy potion swirled like muck behind the glass, but it was recognizable enough.

"Polyjuice.." breathed Narcissa as Bella uncorked the vial. "You don't mean to disguise yourself forever, do you?"

Bella remained devious as she knocked back the potion in one swift gulp, then pulled a face that displayed clearly how awful the potion tasted. Bubbling like a pot left on the oven too long, Bella's skin shifted, her bones popping as they lengthened, hair lightening significantly and fading into a dull brown to match her new eyes. Grinning at her sister with a new face, Bella was unrecognizable. "Maybe the dirty blood that used to flow under the mudblood who used to wear this skin will keep me from being seen, hm?"

* * *

Andromeda glared with all the force she could muster, which was in reality quite a lot. The gray hooded figure had summoned two chairs and kept silent until the witch assented to sit opposite him at the small table on which she had awoken. Perched on the edge of her seat, Andy had her hands folded on the table before her.

"Tell me, Andromeda-", the figure began, his voice distorted by what must have been an enchantment on the hood pulled low over his face, only to be interrupted by one finger held up by the witch opposite him.

" I was brought here by force, against my will, and as far as I am concerned, you are an aggressive entity with whom I want no contact or conversation. Seeing as I am in a clinical setting", a hand waving to gesture towards the gray surroundings and matching table and chairs, "I assume I am in some sort of Ministry department, in which case I require a lawyer immediately. This is illegal detainment, and I will be writing to the Minister himself about this outrage."

3977 did not budge, his voice sounding no different as he informed Andromeda of her situation without pretense. "You have been brought here under no command by the Ministry, or the Minister. If you wish to leave, you will be Obliviated, however that will not be happening as of yet. You were brought here due to matters of life and death, and seeing as this place is above and entirely outside of the law, I am under no obligation to guarantee your safety, provide you with legal council or release you."

Andromeda tensed, inwardly if not visibly, and responded curtly, "Please address me as Mrs. Tonks. I do not know you, and I do not have any desire to speak with you beyond learning just what the face under that robe looks like. I do not take kindly to hooded figures." Amusement was the last reaction that the witch expected, but it was the one she received, a chuckle issuing from under the hood. Bristling at the humored sound, Andromeda drew herself up in her chair. "Do tell me what it is that I am here for." Demanding and not giving in an inch, her spine as straight as it could possibly be.

"Do you have any knowledge of the location of the body of the late Bellatrix Lestrange?" Asking with a far more serious tone than seconds before, 3977 leaned forward as if eager for the answer. Taken aback by the abruptness of the question and the lack of game playing, Andromeda sputtered for a short moment before answering, "What on earth do you need to know that for?"

"So you do know where her body is located?" the man asked quickly.

"Yes, of course, on the Black grounds like every other member of our family", Andromeda spoke in surprise, giving up the information without truly intending it. She was on full alert, watching the figure with intense interest and hating herself a bit for surrendering the information without meaning to. "Why? Tell me why you need this information."

Standing swiftly, 3977 gave Andromeda a nod of thanks and moved towards the door. "I thank you for your help and confirmation of this information, Mrs. Tonks. I will be sure to release you posthaste."

Andromeda jumped up from her chair and lamented the fact that she could not feel her wand anywhere on her person as she circled the table quickly to approach the hooded figure. "Tell me who you are and why you need Bella's body! Tell me!" The witch's need for answers collided with how threatened she already felt without her wand, compounding both emotions into a destructive force she had no trouble controlling on a day to day basis. Today was not a normal day.

Lashing out with unexpected speed, Andromeda reached for the hood and tugged it sharply. Though the man reacted fast, it wasn't fast enough, his hood torn away to reveal his identity. Freezing where she stood, mouth falling open, Andromeda couldn't find words to place to the surprise she felt at the realization of who exactly it was that had kidnapped her from her home.

"But.. this is impossible.."

3977 pulled up his hood to cover his face once more, though his identity was compromised, slipping through the door and leaving behind a speechless Andromeda.


	8. Chapter 8

Magic tore through the air as Bellatrix raged, destroying curtains, bed sheets, tearing chunks from the walls themselves and shattering fine china in what was, before her attack, a dark oak hutch with glass doors. Shrieking profanities with her own voice once more as she dragged her chaos through the home, there was no doubt in Narcissa's mind as her sister destroyed everything within reach that there was no possible ending in which violence was not a key factor.

With the transformation complete after ingesting the Polyjuice potion, Bellatrix had immediately taken hold of her sister and apparated the pair of them directly into Knockturn Alley. Narcissa, fearing the worst, felt her stomach drop to her toes. She was surprised by the quick turn however, as the disguised Bellatrix turned to the right and hoofed it down a small passageway that led to another, seedier alley. Hot on her heels, the blonde kept her sister in sight up until the witch barged through a door that seemed to have been part of wall up until it swung open under the dark woman's touch.

"Where is it?" Bellatrix, new voice or no, was menacing as she hissed to the shopkeeper, the three words the only ones Narcissa caught as she slid into what looked like a much smaller version of Borgin and Burkes. Behind the counter was a tall and very bulky man, Narcissa supposed him to be at the very least half giant. She might have assumed the smell permeating the room to have originated from him were he not so impeccably dressed. While his hair and beard, both a dull grey, were thick and wiry, they were perfectly groomed and almost shone with cleanliness against the pitch black of his dress robes.  
Large though he was, he was cowering under the intense glare of the disguised witch, apparently needing no explanation as to whom exactly he was dealing with as he addressed her, "Madame Lestrange, you must understand that with your death, the item in question was automatically relocated!" He nearly begged for understanding that he likely was aware would not come. Narcissa moved swiftly to her sister's side, recognizing her fury for what it was. Fear. And a scared Bellatrix Lestrange was something no one deserved to be subjected to.

"Bella", Narcissa murmured beside the witch, her knuckles white with the tight grip she had on her sister's elbow, "If what you need has been relocated, killing him will do no good in finding it." Nostrils flaring, body vibrating with uncontained anger, Bellatrix ripped from her sister's hold and swooped towards the man with a loud, "Crucio!"

Instantly the man was on the floor in agony. Narcissa gasped as the sensation of magic being ripped violently from her body overtook every other sense she possessed, whiteness capturing her vision and all sound vanishing. There was no sense of time in her frozen state, she could have been in that white place for an hour or a year for all she could tell.

By the time she regained consciousness, her sister's own face was all she could see, the scent of burning flesh assaulting her with the knowledge that the man was likely nothing more than a smoking corpse before she had even to glance to the side. Shuddering as Bellatrix's demanding hands dragged at her, Narcissa pulled up short.

Words cluttered her mind, clogging in her vocal cords before she could order them correctly. What was happening here? What had the witch done? Bellatrix was wearing her own face once more, meaning that the man, though likely far from innocent, had suffered a long and drawn out death that he had not deserved. Bellatrix was wearing a look of wild purpose, her quest for some item of which Narcissa had yet to learn the use appearing to be moving forward.

"Come now, Cissy, we have things to do." Bella once again took a firm hold of Narcissa's hand and twisted her into an unwilling side-along apparition to Merlin only knew where.

Where they had arrived was familiar in the vaguest sense of the word, as Narcissa had only viewed the dwelling from a distance on several occasions and only once, when she had been very daring, had she approached. Black blood or no, there was a bit of cowardice that made a home deep in Narcissa's soul, and it chose to show itself when any instance should present itself where she might be required to face the shamed sister she had not been close to in so very many years.

It mightn't be described as shame precisely, that awful crushing that bore down on the blonde at even the thought of her sister, but the word certainly came close. Even now, the witch found it difficult to keep herself upright as she hovered in the modest sized living area, as if the very air itself were too thin to provide breath, much less strength.

"Where is she?!" Bellatrix demanded from the air, questioning no one and everyone, her eyes mad as she returned to where Narcissa awaited the completion of her dark sister's temper tantrum. There must have been something in her stance, or perhaps it was merely the witch's paranoia, but something drew Bellatrix's eye to Narcissa, a very suspicious eye. "You.."  
The word lingered like a question and a discovery, all narrowed eyes and disbelief. Skirts swishing against the wooden floors, boots tapping a slow rhythm as she neared her sister and circled the woman, Bellatrix brandished her wand.  
"You must have warned her..", said the witch, as if working it out in her head, eyes both distant and focused on Narcissa in turn. "You betrayed me!"

Remaining calm, still, tensed for the attack that she couldn't be certain would or would not come, Narcissa began to speak slowly, hoping that enough of her sister remained to listen. "Bella.. she could just be out..", Narcissa attempted to reason with whom she was becoming increasingly uncertain was truly all of her sister. "What reason would I have to betray you, when I have risked my soul just to have you back?"

True or not, the reasoning was sound, and Narcissa asked herself that very question. Was it her pathological desire for the perfect family she knew she would never be able to achieve?

Nearing her sister, invading her personal space, Bellatrix brushed her cheek along Narcissa's like a large cat, though the wand tracing the opposite side of the blonde's face took away from the comfort she might have taken from the gesture. "How am I supposed to believe you..?" Bellatrix's voice was musing, her wand dropping from trailing along Narcissa's jawline to tracing the curve of the side of her breast.

From the first days in which Bella had regained her strength and will, she had taken advantage of every single presented opportunity to bully her sister, using her magic to prove her dominance time and time again. The small teasing caresses that followed were enough to mollify the blonde, to press her back into the place she once held as the only one who could bring Bella down from her violent places with soft touches and a soothing voice. The pattern had followed as ever before, but with the new connection that existed, tying the women together with something deeper than blood, there was a fresh spark to every touch.

And yet, as of this moment, there had been no push to move beyond the teasing, to do any more than mock with the knowledge that the dark witch knew exactly what it was that she could do to the blonde. Even touches to bare flesh had not gone beyond that, leaving Narcissa floating in an abysmal void of sensation where want and uncertainty fought an eternal battle.

The strange sense of magic draining from her body drew the air from her lungs as Bellatrix wordlessly cast a spell, causing Narcissa to stiffen in place, unable to move petrified muscles. Bellatrix mumbled to herself as she paced before the frozen witch, arguing with a low angry voice with no one that the blonde could see. No words could be made out, but by the second the darker witch was growing more agitated, drawing Narcissa further into a place of fear that she doubted ever more she would escape from intact.

A violent shove sent Narcissa tumbling to the ground, hitting with a hard thump not unlike a large log, which she might as well have been in her immobilized state. Dull pain radiated outwards from the blonde's shoulder and the back of her head where she had taken most of the impact. That pain was nothing as her rapid heart beat drowned out all other senses as Bellatrix straddled her prone sister with a slow, purposeful motion. Firm knees held Narcissa's upper arms to her sides, preventing escape even if the witch could have struggled.

Unforgiving coldness coated Bellatrix's expression, holding it frozen, though Narcissa could swear there was regret flitting about just beneath the surface.

"I never wanted to involve you in this manner, you know. But it was the only place I knew no one would ever look." Bella spoke, her words almost hinting at apology as she set her wand aside and removed a dagger from Merlin only knew where to which Narcissa's eyes became immediately affixed. "But really.. how could I have known that I was going to die in the war? Me? His best Lieutenant?" The witch was working herself up into a frenzy, eyes turning wild before she directed her gaze back from the empty space above her head and back down to her helpless sister.

"I should feel sorry, shouldn't I?" Bella was lost, her dagger hovering over Narcissa's chest. "I should probably check her first.." there was a moment of pause, hesitation, before Bellatrix's expression crumbled, "Andromeda." Narcissa mightn't have believed her ears had Bellatrix not repeated the name several times more, voice breaking further with every repetition.

"Cissy.." The eyes that shone from Bella's face in that moment were unlike any that Narcissa had witnessed since her sister's miraculous return to life, and with the helpless gaze brought hope. "I'm sorry." Hope was dashed with the two simple words and the agonizing pain as Bella cut swiftly through the top layer of Narcissa's clothing, reaching skin within seconds and not stopping.

The spell keeping Narcissa from moving, from escaping, prevented her from screaming in agony as Bellatrix began slowly vivisecting her right there on the floor of Andromeda's destroyed home.


	9. Chapter 9

Narcissa hovered in a world of agony and darkness, her very soul trembling when her body could no longer react to the pain of its own accord. She might have cried, were she able, but as it was the witch was incapable of even so simple a thing. Death lingered nearby, she could feel it, sense it, even taste it. It stank of heat and misery, acrid and curling against everything that Narcissa was, death wanted her.

Bellatrix's voice cut through the haze suddenly, breaking into Narcissa quiet place, the ever shrinking fraction of her mind to which she could retreat when the world became far too much to handle. Soft at first, it took long minutes for the blonde to realize that it was gradually, very gradually, growing in volume, reaching farther into her thoughts with each heartbeat.

Oh! She still had one of those, pumping weakly, but she had it nonetheless. Unfortunately however, with the recognition of her thumping pulse, steadily dragging her away from approaching death, sensation also began to return. Pounding in tandem with her heart came the pain, every nerve throbbing to such an extreme that Narcissa wanted to weep and beg for death to move faster, to capture her and take it all away.

Her silent request was unheeded as Bella's voice grew to a roaring volume, and she became aware of more, her sister shaking her hard enough that she flopped about like a ragdoll, screaming in the blonde witch's face. Narcissa's eyelids fluttered, the slight movement caught immediately by Bella's sharp eyes.

The light stabbed her in far more agonizing a manner than any spell, but it hardly matched up to the sharp, dull, smashing, cutting, tearing pain that still drummed within. As her eyes opened, Bellatrix ceased the rough treatment and pulled her sister close to her, pressing their bodies close enough that not a breath could have passed between them.

"Wake up!"

Obliging the shouted command as well as she was able, Narcissa took slow breaths, but the terror of what she had just experienced ended her calm awakening, transforming the veritable resurrection into a panic attack of the highest degree. Her arms lifted, though they were heavy as lead, attempting to shove Bellatrix away from her as the tears finally rolled from her eyes in abundance. She was terrified.

Blood soaked the bits of robes still draping her flesh as well as the front of Bellatrix's clothing, her hands stained with browning crimson as she tightened her grip on Narcissa. Obsession spoke through her embrace, remaining firm though her sister struggled to escape with the little strength that returned to her.

"Stop it! I had to! Just listen to me!" Bella shouted as if it might interrupt Narcissa's attempts to flee her, grasping her face with one hand and piercing her with an intense stare that captured the blonde's attention through her fear. Not through a wish to know what was happening however, as Narcissa cared only to get as far away from the demented witch as soon as magically possible. But she also knew better than not to watch a wild animal. The moment one wasn't watching would be the very moment that the animal attacked.

Seemingly satisfied with Narcissa's eyes upon her, Bellatrix explained with a jumble of words, "I had an enchantment on a certain item, that it would pass on to my next of kin in the event of my death. And it did! But I couldn't have known whether it would go into you or Andr—" Bellatrix scowled at the name tripping herself up. "I couldn't have known if it would go to you or not! The spell wasn't that specific. But I made so it would into a person's body and it.. It was there. It was there, Cissy! You saved me! You brought me back and now I have it!" Bellatrix reached beside her like a child on Christmas morning reaching for a favourite present. Dangling the pendant before Narcissa's eyes, Bellatrix continued with a new tone of manic excitement in her voice, "This is our salvation, Cissy!"

Narcissa, still breathing quite shallowly and unable to slow her heart from the marathon it seemed to think it was running, only stared at Bellatrix with wide eyes, allowing her gaze to flicker to the round pendant only once. The small silver ball just a fraction larger than the average sized pearl hung innocently from a thin silver chain, the entire thing still flecked with the bloody evidence that it had been within Narcissa's body.

Her body.

With a sudden urgency, the witch ran one hand down her front, finding a thick scar leading from just below her collarbone and twisting down the center of her torso all the way to her belly button. Nausea overtook her senses as she registered the sickening fact that her sister, the one she loved more than the world, had just cut open her body to retrieve an item that she had spelled there.

"You.." Narcissa's voice was weak from withheld screams of agony. "…almost killed me.."

Bellatrix laughed loudly, seemingly over the horrendous act of cutting her sister nearly in half far more quickly than what could be deemed 'healthy'. "Cissy, I could never kill you, are you daft? We're linked! Killing you would be committing suicide, and I think the world could still do with a bit more work before I leave it." A wicked, mad grin had made a home on Bella's face, not assisting in the slightest with easing Narcissa's fears.

"What is it?" Beyond wishing to escape, Narcissa now wished to know what exactly it was that Bella had deemed so very important, to the point where she would risk her sister's death. Eyes shining as she held the pendant before them, Bella continued to speak, "What a pretty thing.. I am so happy to see you again.." Her cooing stopped as she took notice of Narcissa's inquiry. She leaned to the blonde witch's ear, as if to whisper a secret.

The words made Narcissa's blood run cold, knowing instantly that it was all due to that object that she had found it necessary to risk everything to bring her dead sister back to life, that the thing had brought her to the point at which she would take anything that Bella doled out with a minimum of rebellion. It was the most deranged act that Narcissa had ever known her sister to commit, though she had terrible suspicions of some other things the dark witch had done. It was the reason that the love she held for her sister had blossomed into the intense obsession she could not deny.

" _It's a Horcrux."_

The surface beneath the injured witch shifted without warning as Bella pulled her into yet another unwilling side along apparition, soft silken sheets stained instantly with the blood that still clung to the two of them. Narcissa was entranced by the swinging pendant, uncaring that the location had changed, awe colouring her voice, "You really did it. Just like Him." Bellatrix preened, proud to be compared to her fallen lord.

"So you see, Cissy? Do you see how important it was that I retrieve this?" Bella, though speaking brightly, held a note of pleading between the lines. What could Narcissa say? Yes, a Horcrux was most certainly quite a crucial object to keep safe, but the circumstances of Narcissa's resurrection of her sister now felt darkened even more than they already were. Was it truly she who wished to bring her sister back, or was it that little piece of Bella within that cried out for life once more? Was the little thing the reason that Narcissa had not felt the bond between them as keenly as the books had said they would, and why only when Bella cast powerful magic she felt the drain?

"Oh Cissy.. I knew I could trust you.." Bellatrix purred as she shifted Narcissa without requiring the witch's help, tugging her into a position that had her straddling the dark witch's lap. Nuzzling at the spot just below her jaw that Bella remembered so clearly would affect her sister without fail, the devious witch murmured seductively, "I'm so glad to have this done with.. It was so very difficult to do without you these long months.. But now.. Now I don't have to worry what might be influencing you, I can rest easily in the knowledge.." She brushed her lips along the curve of Narcissa's ear. "…that every time you cum, it is only due to me. And every scream.. You cannot deny that I alone drew it from your lungs. You're mine, Cissy, as is your every heartbeat, your each and every breath." Bella giggled, mad with lust and power and triumph.

Narcissa groaned, any fight she still had in her weakened body demolished by the gentle touches and caresses. Anger bubbled beneath the surface, but it only served to compound the desire rising in her belly, the lust that had been building the moment her sister touched her once more. Breathing out a moan as Bellatrix slipped her hand into the remains of her robes, Narcissa knew that her surrender would be absolute.

Delicate fingers danced up the ugly scar now marring Narcissa's body, tracing each twist that Bella's dagger had carelessly formed and her mediocre healing had inadequately mended. Fingers were followed by a hot tongue, the blonde's low groan was clearly approval as far as Bellatrix was concerned. Narcissa had yet to realize that Bella had brought them not back to her manor, but just upstairs in their sister's home, landing the two of them on Andromeda's four poster bed. Bellatrix took perverse pleasure in laying her witch back on the bed that the shamed would return to eventually, just to find it caked in blood and the unmistakable scent of a woman's arousal. There would be no doubt as to what had happened. Andromeda would certainly recognize the sight of her sister's pattern of destruction.

Slipping her hand down between Narcissa's soft thighs, Bella hummed in pleasure to find them slightly more rounded out than the last time she had had the pleasure of partaking of her sister's gem. Tongue continuing to caress the scar, moulding into the dips and rises, fingers echoed the exploration. Narcissa took a hold of the dark witch's hand reflexively when it found that which they both desired, though only one currently had the courage, or rather lack of care as to location, to move forward. Bellatrix tipped her head to capture an already stiff nipple into her mouth, eliciting a squeak from the blonde, who released the dark witch's hand in her surprise. Taking advantage of the lack of resistance, Bella surge forward, pushing two fingers into her waiting sister's aching cunt. Were it not for the grip Bellatrix had on Narcissa's waist, she surely would have leaped from her.

Bellatrix picked up a slow rhythm, savouring the feel and the heat of the beautiful witch writhing and begging for more with her half lidded eyes. "Tell me", Bella murmured, not giving the blonde what she so clearly desired. It was about the thrill, the game, the need for yet another triumph. Narcissa gave what she knew Bella wished.

"Please", she pleaded, her hands lifting to cup Bellatrix's face. "Please, Bella, I need you." The speed increased, but not enough for Narcissa's need to be sated, as the elder witch very well knew. "Please, oh please", Narcissa tried again. Eyes barely remaining opened in her haze of need and unfulfilled desire, Narcissa released a growl of pure animal frustration at the sensation of Bella curling her fingers within her, pressing and brushing just the perfect spot that made her muscles simultaneously tense and release.

"Oh… Merlin.. Bella.." A cackle followed Narcissa's mumbled words.

"Which is it, Cissy? Merlin, or me?"

"You!", Narcissa cried as Bellatrix gave a particularly hard thrust. The declaration seemed enough for Bella, for now, as she pushed onwards with the hard thrusts, crouching and lowering her face to Narcissa's dripping heat, the tongue that flicked out gave only short, devilish tweaks. Narcissa's hands buried themselves in Bellatrix's thick curls, forcing her face to where she needed it most.

Pressing her hips upwards to take as much as her sister was willing to give, Narcissa's moans slipped together to form the darker witch's name. Weak flesh and a weaker heart conspired to bring her to a climax far more quickly than she had in quite awhile, Narcissa could feel Bellatrix's hungry grin on her sensitive bud.

"Bella!" Narcissa clamped her thighs around the witch's head, holding her as she rode out the most intense orgasm she had had in longer than she cared to count. Counting wasn't a priority at the moment however, as Bellatrix kept up with her onslaught, not letting up until the blonde could do no more than mumble, muscles twitching.

A feral grin, coated in Narcissa's own fluids, was the mask that Bella donned while she crawled her way up Narcissa's now beyond exhausted body. The afterglow of more than a few orgasms clung to the blonde's skin, giving it a shine that Bella allowed herself to bathe in for the present time.

Who knew? If they were very lucky, perhaps Andromeda would be home sooner rather than later. A good bout of agonized screaming was always a lovely dessert to accompany the main course.


	10. Chapter 10

The brutality with which Andromeda was presented was unexpected to say the least, reeking of a familiarity that her subconscious recognized but her waking mind dared not consider. It was a full count of ten before the witch could step over the shattered remains of her front door to enter the destroyed dwelling she called her own, picking out and avoiding those points where the damage was the greatest with an ease born from war. The seemingly careless slashes that stretched over the once beautifully papered walls and up across painted ceilings blended with scorch marks where mere cutting did not seem to satisfy the aggressive and likely enraged perpetrator; they were amongst the simpler signs of destruction that Andromeda could identify from sight alone.

"You understand that this is a highly irregular situation, I hope." From beside Andromeda came the dragging tone, irritation clear despite the forced evenness of each word. The witch ignored her companion for the moment, instead working through the damaged remnants of the life she had built.

"What in Merlin's name could have been the purpose of causing this sort of damage?" Andromeda asked the empty air as she found a pile of ash that looked to have once been the photographs that had filled a tall dark wood set of shelves if she were to judge from the cracked pieces of frames and glass that studded the grey. Not a scrap of enchanted photo paper was spared.

"That's classified", 3977 responded as he hovered near the front entrance, taking in the full view of what had been done to the Tonks' household.

"Like your identity?" the witch retorted quickly, shooting a glare towards the hooded man. "I am as yet fully capable of revealing to the world that you still live. The fact that you have allowed me access _to my own home_ changes next to nothing." Unmoved by her threat on the outside, the man nonetheless felt the turmoil raging within. To Obliviate the witch now would be to forgo a potentially valuable ally, but to allow her knowledge such as what she currently possessed was more foolhardy than the man cared to be.

"If you wish to keep your memory, and your life, I would advise silence on that particular matter." An empty threat, but Andromeda need not know that. As it was, the witch appeared to take it into consideration and store the information for later, turning back to her ruined home. Putting the man out of her mind for a short moment, Andromeda took the stairs to the second floor.

Any thought at all of anything not concerning what had happened her home vanished as she entered her own bedroom. Blood had clearly been spilled here and the witch's mind went instantly to her husband and grandchild before jumping to the one who had spared her of this apparent grisly fate. While there was no reason that Andromeda could find that would have brought Narcissa to this place directly after warning her sister away, the witch was uneasy. Each step further brought new discoveries, the rags that remained of her bed dressings and ever more blood. The pungent scent that greeted her when she neared the bed was unmistakably that of sex, the crimson fading to a rusty pink in some places where Andromeda could only think one liquid had diluted the other.

Nausea overwhelmed as the knowledge reared that someone had been ravaged in her bed, and the amount of blood that had been left behind did not speak of a willing participant.

"I see." 3977's voice startled the witch. "We must retreat. I have reason to believe the perpetrator will return."

"And that reason would be..?" Andromeda swallowed the threatening sensation of bile crawling up her throat to fix the man with a glare not unlike that she had worn downstairs. She was swiftly losing her patience with the lack of information, made obvious in the hard line of her mouth.

"Classified", the man replied as he swooped from the doorway and towards the stairs. Again Andromeda thought bitterly of her lack of a wand as she followed, a shout leaping from her lips, "I'm not going anywhere without some answers!"

A scoff formed on the man's lips this time, followed by a sneer. "As I have already informed you, you really have no choice in the matter. I am not required to tell you anything. Furthermore, I've already violated at least 11 rules of contact with the outside and 4 rules of conduct which alone could force…" he paused, "..a _release_ from my position."

"Release?" Andromeda echoed, questioning.

"Yes", the man answered with tension ridging his tone. "But before you have any thoughts of blackmail in return for your silence concerning my personal conduct, I would be remiss if I did not inform you of your own fate after the carrying out of my own."

Andromeda made to press for further answers, but was interrupted as the man lifted a hand, indicating he required silence. Battle instincts set in instantly, Andromeda's senses on alert to find whatever it was that had drawn her companion's attention.

"I knew you'd be back sooner or later!" The glee with which the words were crowed up the stairs could not come close to drowning out the madness in the newcomer's tone. Bellatrix's voice must have been the product of a still grieving mind, Andromeda told herself. Her sister was dead, and the damage to her own home merely brought up old memories of the chaos that constantly trailed after the witch. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Sing-songing the words, there was no mistaking that the witch who spoke them was more than a delusion.

Brushing past the hooded man in the doorway, Andromeda took the steps two at a time only to freeze when she reached the bottom. There, standing amidst the ruins of the Tonks' family room stood Bellatrix in all of her dark glory. The first thing that Andromeda could say was, "Is that your blood?" The question was met with a surprised laugh. Bellatrix held out a hand, displaying her stained palm like a trophy before pulling back to her face and giving it a long, languid lick.

"No.. Don't you worry, sister dear. I'm far from hurt. In fact," Bellatrix stretched her arms out to the sides as if presenting herself, "I'm better than ever!"

"Drop your wand, Bella. Now." From just behind Andromeda approached her hooded companion, wand drawn and trained on Bellatrix without wavering. "I won't tell you twice." Bellatrix's expression contorted for a minute in irritation.

"Bringing uninvited guests to our little reunion? How rude." 3977 flung a wordless hex at Bellatrix, which she blocked with a flourish of her own wand, but the man was stopped from repeating the move by Andromeda shoving his arm to the side.

"Stop! Don't kill her!"

The panic in Andromeda's voice came as a shock to Bellatrix, the surprise evident by her lifted brows and twisting grin. "Worried for big sister now, are we?" Andromeda cringed as Bella's awful smile created all sorts of conflicting emotions within her, dredging up a wealth of feeling she had thought she put to rest ages ago.

"Hardly", Andromeda responded with an increasingly stronger voice, nearly convincing herself that she meant it. "I want to find out if it's really you he'd be killing. Or just some pathetic pretender trying to wear the face of someone far more demented than they." Bellatrix let loose a growl and shouted, "I am the one and only! And if your weak little hooded friend thinks that he could actually manage to kill me, he's crazier than they claim that I am!"

"Really, Bella. Shouting to an audience of two does not speak very well to your sanity. And while I am ever so entertained by these proceedings, I have more important things to attend to." 3977 prodded at the witch's pride, seeking a rise from her. Andromeda might not realize the purpose behind his actions, but there was one. One that he dearly wished he could follow through with without an innocent witch present.

"Where is Narcissa?!" Andromeda shouted, worrying bubbling up. Bella had always had an unhealthy relationship with their youngest sister, and Andromeda would have to have been stupid not to assume that had not changed. Growling as she flung out what might have been another destructive spell had 3977 not blocked it, Bellatrix answered with her own shout, "She's none of your concern!" His block brought Bella thirsting for more from her well of rage. "And you're unnecessary!" A short but desperate bout of magical sparring broke out between the two, during which Bella screamed obscenities, ending when the edge of a stray spell caught the edge of 3977's hood. His swift turn prevented his face from being seen, but also provided Bellatrix the moment she needed to dissolve and appear beside Andromeda in a split second apparition. In that selfsame second the two women were gone, leaving the hooded man alone.

* * *

Narcissa woke, heat from too many blankets having been heaped upon her forcing her into consciousness. Confusion was her first reaction, disgust the second when the blankets were shoved aside to reveal her unwashed body. Blood and other bodily fluids clung to her skin in a manner she could only label appalling, though she supposed the sticky liquids were all that kept the scraps of she had once called clothing from slipping off of her entirely. A shudder travelled down her frame as she made for the bathroom to scrub herself raw, memories coming slowly.

The mirror greeted her with an apparition, a woman who looked to have been through some sort of perverse war. Twisting down the center of her torso was a knobby scar. Narcissa's pride faltered before the anger flared. Bellatrix. It was all her. Bellatrix who had been the focus of the months following the war. Bellatrix who was the cause of this obsession. Bellatrix who had stored a part of her own soul within Narcissa's body and Bellatrix who had cut open her body to retrieve this horrifying item without so much as a warning. Anger was too calm of a sensation to describe what Narcissa was feeling as she bathed, scraping away at the grime that Bellatrix had left behind. Would it have been too much to ask for the woman to at least clean her? With every swipe of her cloth Narcissa saw the events that led to her disastrous appearance, leaving her freshly enraged. Perhaps it was the absence of the horcrux that allowed to see Bellatrix through new eyes, eyes unclouded and able to see through her love and straight to her anger.

Oh yes, there was definitely anger. Thumping and shouting had Narcissa jumping from the bath, though she was only half clean. She snatched a bathrobe from the door as she dashed down the stairs, ignoring the complaints of her body. In the foyer, that was where the noise had come from, and Narcissa entered to find two witches in a flurry of movement, one clearly winning out. Narcissa recognized Andromeda as Bellatrix pinned her, her wand pressed firmly enough into her throat that there would definitely be a bruise. Panting, Andromeda drew herself up and spat into Bellatrix's face, infuriating the dark witch who shouted, "Crucio!" Andromeda dissolved into screams, at which point Narcissa found her voice and her legs, dashing forward and tackling Bellatrix. Hard.

The curse broke as Bellatrix tumbled to the floor under a mass of righteous blonde fury, Andromeda scrambling to get out of the reach of either witch. "Don't you dare, Bellatrix! Don't you fucking dare!" Narcissa shouted directly into Bellatrix's face, startling the older witch into momentary stillness. But it didn't last long, Bellatrix wrestling with Narcissa and winning. Narcissa struggled mightily, screaming in outrage as Bellatrix sat on her, her arms held to her sides with her thighs, just as she had before cutting the blonde open. The memory fuelled Narcissa's struggles, but it was useless. "Will you just calm down for one bloody second! Merlin, Cissy! I'm just taking care of the trash!"

Both Bellatrix and Narcissa looked to Andromeda, who had gotten to her feet and frantically searched for her wand for a futile second before remembering it was still in 3977's possession. As her eyes met with her sisters', she screamed, "Just stay the hell away from me!" Narcissa was hurt, she had just saved her damned life, but Bellatrix cackled madly and pointed her wand.

"I'll get to you in a minute!" Returning her attention to the squirming witch beneath her, Bellatrix scowled. "You couldn't have bothered to clean yourself up a little for me?" Narcissa screamed with frustration, thrashing about in her cage of flesh.

"I was bloody _trying_ to bathe until you came in trying to _kill our sister_!" At this Bellatrix's scowl deepened.

"She's not our sister, Cissy! She stopped being our sister when she chose her disgusting lifestyle! If you'd just let me finish what I started, we can forget all about her!" Narcissa's eyes moved to Andromeda's in a panic, only to find her gone. Relief flooded her senses sending tiny white lights twinkling at the edges of her vision. She was free in an instant as Bellatrix rose with a curse, dashing to look out the now open front door and finding nothing. "Fuck!" she swore, turning to Narcissa with the fires of absolute-pissed-offness in her eyes. "What the hell did you go and do that for?"

"You'll not be killing anyone _in my house_!" Narcissa asserted, trembling as she pushed herself up to her feet.

"Fine", agreed Bellatrix with a nonchalant shrug followed by a malicious grin. "I'll just have to go kill her somewhere else then."

"No!" Narcissa barked harshly, eyes narrowing as she closed in on her sister. "You're going to settle the hell down and let me bathe without worrying that you're out getting yourself seen and destroyed!" Bellatrix bristled at the command, actually growling at the fact that her little sister had the gall to oppose her.

"And what do you think she's going to do now? Just prance off home and forget that I'm bloody _alive_?" Narcissa swallowed, her stomach sinking. She hadn't considered that, so preoccupied had she been with the fact that one of her sisters was attempting to murder the other. What _would_ Andromeda do? She had to know that Bellatrix wasn't back through normal magical means, and she could only assume then that Narcissa had been the one to use the incredibly dark magic it took to bring someone back to life. If Andromeda was to tell _anyone_ that Bellatrix was back, the consequences would be dire. "So _now_ will you let me kill her?" Bellatrix asked, her tone agitated, for once seeming to understand that the real world had consequences. However, she also seemed to be listening to Narcissa's command not to kill her, for the moment, and it was a small blessing that the blonde chose to treasure.

"Just… bring her back here", Narcissa conceded. "Then maybe we can talk to her."

"Oh, I'll talk to her alright", Bellatrix chuckled, eyes flashing.

"With a minimum of damage caused, Bella", Narcissa demanded firmly, taking whatever control she could and holding on firmly. "If you hurt her beyond repair, there's no doubt that she'll talk the moment that she can. If you bring her here, there's a chance we can reason with her." Bellatrix snorted, arms crossing as her bloodlust cooled slightly into disgust for Narcissa's apparent naivety.

"Don't be stupid. Whether I hurt her or not, she's going to talk the moment she can." Narcissa felt her heart speed up, she feared the same thing.

"We won't know if we don't try", she insisted stubbornly. "Bring her back." With a roll of her eyes, Bella was then gone, leaving Narcissa alone. Shoulders slumping, Narcissa returned up the stairs to the bathroom. Her bathwater was cooling, but a tap of her wand and a simple spoken charm had it pleasantly warm again. However, the temporary comfort she had found amongst the bubble and her anger was gone. She scrubbed herself clean, counting the seconds and straining her ears so she would know the second that Bella returned with their sister.

Honestly, she didn't care what Bellatrix said, Andromeda was still their sister and she always would be. She might be a foolish muggle-lover, but she was their sister nonetheless, and the small amount of loyalty that Narcissa felt for her bloodline kept her from wishing that Bella had killed the witch before she was able to stop her. Andromeda would be a problem, but not one that Narcissa wanted to solve by killing her.


End file.
